conference

MUSEUM MEDIATORS

EUROPEAN CONFERENCE

São Brás de Alportel, 16-17 de September

PORTUGAL

We will enjoy an urgent and thrilling discussion about our dreams, our ideas and our futures in the wonderful Museu do Trajo de São Brás de Alportel, that has opened its community to the first Museum Mediators European Conference.

This conference is not about lecturing. It’s about sharing and creating and enjoying two days with friends that share the same passions: Museums, Ideas, People, Democracy. Please join us!

Even though culture-based creativity plays a pivotal role in the European society in many different dimensions (an increasing share of economic activity; the undisputed social impact, with huge touristic, identity and territorial cohesion value; as a social inclusion agent), the role of the Museum Mediators is still undervalued. It is still not recognised that the relationship with Museum and Heritage visitors represents the threshold for institutional survival.

Museum Mediators and Educators are highly qualified professionals that come from different academic fields, with little or no communicational and educational training that is indispensable for their daily activities.

This reality led to the creation of the Museum Mediators project. Our main goal was to create training and professional guidelines for Museum Mediators/Educators that represent the institutional and professional needs of Museums’ mediation professionals in the participating European countries: Portugal, Spain, Italy, Estonia and Denmark.

After a two year project, funded by the European Comission Lifelong Learning Programme, the partners have achieved relevant goals:

- The training courses were organized in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Estonia and Denmark, between 2013 and 2014, working with 103 learners.

- The creation of the European Network of Museum Mediators.

- The creation of the European Museum Mediators Think Tank.

For all this, we feel that there is a lot more to be done, developing with great ambition new designs and reflections about the role of Museums in our society and the indelible contribution of the Museum Mediators.

Tuesday, September 16th

16.00-17.00

Participants’ registration and welcome

—– With a selection of wine and appetizers

17.00-18.00

Museum Visit

18.00-19.00

Conference Opening

Welcome speech from the Museum

Welcome speech from the Museum Mediators Project Team

Handbook presentation

Website presentation

19.00-20.00

European Network of Museum Mediators and Think Tank

Carla Padró | Cristina Da Milano | Niels Righolt

20.30

Dinner at the Museum

Wednesday, September 17th

9.00-10.00

Participants’ registration

10.00-11.00

Museum Mediators Europe: discussing the process

Carla Padró | Aivi Ross | Dália Paulo | Iwona Libucha | Patrícia Brum

11.00-11.20

—— Coffee Break

11.30-11.45

European Museum Forum – partner in Ecult Value project

Goranka Horjan

11.45-13.45

What Museums for Who with What? About our SMART museums

Ida Braendholt Lundgaard

13.45-15.00

Lunch

15.00-17.00

Workshops

METHOD | How to build and manage projects. The not to do and to do lists!

Joaquim Jorge

DIGITAL | Digital storytelling and its potential for audience engagement.

Cristina Da Milano and Niels Righolt

VISION | Sharing experiences through Museums Exhibiting Europe.

Maria João Nunes

ROLES | New professional roles for the Culture and Museum fields.

Ana Fernambuco e Flóra Berei-Nagy

17.00 -17.30

——– Coffee Break

17.30-19.00

Discussion

Ida Braendholt Lundgaard

19.00-19.30

Closing session

Alexandra Gonçalves | Emanuel Sancho | Inês Câmara

What is Museum Mediation? See our videos

Highlight

«Museums have the responsibility to deconstruct their historically situated assumptions, missions, metaphors, conventions and practices [...] however museums are still caught into different dichotomised narratives that are presented as objective “truths”. To name a few, I am referring to the tyranny of chronology (Pollock, 2002), the romantic discourse of the artists as a genius, the current thematic approach in exhibition design or the notion of heritage as a commodity. I am also referring to the culture wars between directors, curators, educators, administrators, evaluators and visitors. And here is when we could ask:

Why can’t museums include multiple perspectives in their research processes, exhibition or educational policies and practices? Why can’t they treat visitors as equal voices?»